Cooperative working strategies applied to Architectural Restoration Learning by using Web Sites. MARIONA GENÍS-VINYALS ALBERT CASALS BALAGUÉ JOSEP LLUÍS GONZÁLEZ MORENO-NAVARRO Construccions Arquitectóniques I Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Barcelona Tech Av. Diagonal 649-651. 08028 Barcelona SPAIN Mariona.genis@upc.edu http://www.etsab.upc.edu Abstract: - This paper seeks to present some of the conclusions of an educational research project that focus on the improving of the architect’s ability to analyse, reflect and especially to synthesize during the intervention’s process in patrimonial buildings. One of the key aspects of this research is the use of cooperative working strategies by using free web sites. Key-Words: - cooperative working strategies, architectural restoration education, free web sites, 1 Introduction 1.1 Teaching architectural restoration The specific theoretical, technical and multidisciplinary nature of the teaching of Architectural Restoration is such that it quite often gets broken up into different areas of knowledge, and the student ends up missing out on the vital complex overall vision of the process of restoration. Various authors, professors of restoration and heads of International institutions have highlighted this problem. Sharon Cather, writing in a Getty Conservation Institute publication, describes her views on the situation: “This situation is an artifact of the ad hoc development of conservation, in which subject matter is expertise dominated, and it is partly due to the fact that conservation is not a discipline but, rather a hybrid –or hydra- that we rightly call multidisciplinary. Because it is multidisciplinary it does not slot neatly into the classical structure of higher education, and it is still far too small –in all senses- to form a new discipline. It therefore loses out.” (Cather 2000) Approaching from the same reading of the problem, and with a clear intention of addressing it, restoration architect and Honorary President of the ITC [1] de ICOMOS Jukka Jokilehto argues for the need to find methods that develop the critical capacity of the restoration specialist above and beyond technical capabilities. (Jokilehto 2007) On the other hand, in the European context in general and the Spanish context in particular (Mileto 2011), the recent and progressive adaptations of the programs for European higher education have led to new skills related to conservation and intervention in architectural heritage being included in the subjects taught from the beginning of the degree course. In this context, which will be developed later in greater detail, somewhere between the over- specialization and the constant instability of educational programs, tools must be found to improve the capacity for analysis, reflection and especially for synthesis and overall vision in the in the interventions of architects in historic buildings. This paper wants to expose the first conclusions from a wide educational research project looking to improve these skills by using both working strategies and free web sites. 1.2 The European context In the context of our investigation, and in order to understand the parameters that have brought us to the current situation, it was necessary first to understand how the teaching of architectural restoration has evolved in Europe. This evolution was explained very succinctly by Jukka Jokilheto in his article An International Recent Advances in Educational Technologies ISBN: 978-1-61804-155-5 82